Stakeholder thinking in marketingStakeholder thinking is becoming a "core" part of marketing as well as other businessrelated disciplines. A search of the business source primmer database found that priorto 1995 there are 58 articles using the term stakeholder in their title and 27 academicmarketing related articles with stakeholder as a key term. The interest in stakeholdertheory has however grown rapidly, between January 2000 and November 2004 therewere 228 articles using stakeholder theory in the title and 140 academic marketingrelated journal articles that examined stakeholder issues. In fact the American Marketing Association's (AMA, 2004) new definition ofmarketing expressly incorporates our responsibility to consider how marketingactivities impact stakeholders:Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways thatbenefit the organization and its stakeholders. Thus the AMA has recognised the core role of stakeholder thinking. While there is an increased interest in stakeholder thinking in marking, anexamination of the literature would seem to suggest that there is no unified view ofhow stakeholder thinking can be or should be integrated into theory or practice. Manyof the stakeholder works, marketing and in other disciplines, still focus on the socialand ethical impacts of stakeholders. This may have been where much off stakeholderthinking initially gained its prominence, but it is a broader strategic tool that canbenefit a range of areas and was in fact the focus of Freeman's (1984) original work inthe area. This is not to suggest that the general strategic implications of stakeholderthinking are not being consider, as an increasingly number of works are looking atstakeholder implications in regards to exchange networks, relationship marketing, andother issues related to strategy development. The papers in this special issue have considered a range of varying perspectivesincluding: corporate social responsibility, the impact of interacting with stakeholders, relationship issues, and broader discussions of stakeholder theory as a strategic tool. These papers have taken a diverse range of perspectives including conceptual works, case studies, qualitative approaches, and various empirical approaches to examiningthe issues of interest within various pieces. The scope of papers included in the special, as well as those not included, identifies the breadth of relevance stakeholder thinkinghas for the application of all aspects of marketing theory and practice. The question of how stakeholders and stakeholder theory can be considered inorganisational activities and marketing theory is an issue that most certainly seems towarrant further consideration. The works in this special issue have advanced thisdebate and identified some directions that could be considered. Stakeholder thinking ishowever not necessarily a paradigm shift in marketing thinking, although some mightbelieve it is, but rather it broadens existing concepts such as relationship marketing, network theory, organisational social responsibility and other areas. Hopefully thepapers presented in this special issue will encourage others to consider the inclusion ofstakeholders into broader areas of marketing. Any special issue editor has to thank a range of people for assistance withdeveloping the special issue. I would like to thank Audrey Gilmore and David Carson, editors of EJM, for allowing the special issue to be developed. Their input through theprocess has been invaluable. I would also like to thank the many authors ofunsuccessful papers for submitting their work. It was of course impossible to includeall papers in the special issue, but the breadth of coverage, in regards to topics andgeographic areas would seem to demonstrate the growing interest in stakeholderthinking within marketing. Lastly, it is imperative that I thank the reviewers, withouttheir assistance the special issue would not have been possible. The following peoplereviewed papers for the special issue:. Anupam Jaju - Gorge Mason University;. Bill Kilbourn - Clemson University;. Bob Heiser - New Mexico State University;. Catherine Elder, [email protected] . ;. Cathy L. Hartman - Utah State University;. David Waller - University of Technology Sydney;. David Stewart - Monash University;. Devashish Pujari - McMaster University;. Dr Russell Casey - Clayton State University;. Duane Windsor - Rice University;. Edwin R. Stafford - Utah State University;. Felix Mavondo - Monsah University;. Frank de Bakker - University of Amsterdam;. Hamish Ratten - University of Queensland;. J. Tomas Gomez Arias - St Mary's College of California;. Jeanne M. Logsdon - University of New Mexico; . John F. Mahon - University of Main;. John Stanton - University of Western Sydney;. Kamal Ghose - University of South Australia;. Kelly Strong - Iowa State University;. Kirk Davidson - Mount St Mary's University;. Kim E. Schatzel - University of Michigan-Dearborn;. Les Carlson - Clemson University;. Linda McGilvray - Massey University;. Marie-Louise Fry - University of Newcastle, Australia;. Mary McKinley - ESCEM School of Business and Management;. Michael Beverland - Monsah University;. Michael Hyman - New Mexico State University;. Mike McCardle - Western Michigan University;. Mike Reid - Monash University;. Nick Grigoriou - Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology;. Peter Scholem - Monash University;. Rita Ferreira - University of Navarra;. Romana Garma - Victoria University, Australia;. Ruhi Yahan - Victoria University, Australia;. Rujirutana Mandhachitara - Long Island University;. Sabrina Helm - Heinrich-Heine University, Duesseldorf;. Scott Vitell - The University of Mississippi;. Sema Sakarya - Bogazici University;. Srikanth Beldona - University of Delaware;. Stacey Hills - Utah State University;. Taras Danko - National Technical University;. Ulrich Orth - Oregon State University; and. William E. Martello - St Edwards University. Michael Jay PolonskyGuest EditorPreviously published in: European Journal of Marketing, Volume 39, Number 9/10, 2005